Laminated tile and method of manufacturing a laminated tile

ABSTRACT

A method and equipment for forming a laminated tile includes a multi-stage process line adapted to combine a tile base and a tile surface. The tile forming equipment includes a production line with a number of operation stations where the tile base is formed in a mould ( 4 ) and compacted. Adhesive or mortar is applied to a mating surface of the tile base. A tile cap has its mating face wetted and/or supplied with a second adhesive and is then applied to the mating surface of the base and pressed to form a sound contact with the adhesive.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a laminated tile and a method of manufacturingsuch a tile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tiles are commonly manufactured monolithically of a single material.Glazes and coatings are sometimes applied to one or more faces of thetiles.

There is a demand for natural look tiles which are made of clays.However, the supply of some clays is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention proposes a laminated tile in which an upper layer of thetile is made of a first material or materials and the remainder is madeof a different material or materials.

The invention also provides a method of forming a laminated tile,including the steps of:

-   forming a tile cap;-   forming a tile base;-   applying a binding or adhesive layer to at least one of the mating    faces of the base or the cap;-   bringing the mating faces of the base and the cap together.

Adhesive can be applied to both the mating surface of the tile cap andthe base.

Different adhesives or adhesive components can be used for the cap andthe base.

The first adhesive can be mortar.

A second adhesive can be a resinous adhesive.

The second adhesive can be PVA.

The base can include concrete.

The cap can include clay.

The cap can include ceramic material.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the method caninclude the steps of:

-   inserting a measured quantity of wetted tile base mixture into a    tile mold;-   distributing the mix within the mold;-   compressing the mix;-   applying an adhesive;-   applying a tile cap.

The method can include the step of compressing and de-watering theconcrete mix.

The method can include the step of distributing the concrete mix byvibration.

Preferably, the vibration is not done during tile cap application.

The invention also provides laminated tile manufacturing equipmentincluding:

-   one or more tile molds adapted to receive a predetermined quantity    of concrete tile base mix;-   a plurality of manufacturing operation stations;-   the stations including:-   a mold filling station at which a wetted concrete tile base mix is    inserted into a mould;-   a distribution station;-   a compression station to compress the mix in the mold;-   a first adhesive application station adapted to apply a first    adhesive layer to a mating surface of the concrete base mix; and-   a tile cap application station adapted to apply a tile cap to the    first adhesive layer.

The equipment can include a second adhesive application station adaptedto apply a second adhesive layer to a mating surface of the tile cap.

The equipment can include a robot arm with a gripper capable of pickingup the vibrating head as well as a tile cap independently.

The gripper can include a vacuum pad to pick up a tile cap for placementon the substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment or embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a multi-station carousel implementing aprocess embodying the invention from a first perspective;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the carousel of FIG. 1 from a secondperspective;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a mold filling station;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an agitation station;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a pressing station;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a mortar application station;

FIG. 7 illustrates aspects of the tile delivery and attachment process;and

FIG. 8 illustrates an unloading press.

FIG. 9 illustrates a laminated tile 1200 made according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 10 shows a first embodiment of the pressed concrete base.

FIG. 11 shows a second embodiment of the pressed concrete base.

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of a method of forming acontinuous tile/base composite.

FIG. 13 illustrates a production line adapted to use pre-formed base andcap layers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT OR EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 & 2 illustrate different views of an embodiment of tilemanufacturing equipment. The ingredients for making a concrete tilebase, such as cement, sand, aggregate and additives, are stored in binsand hoppers (not shown). The various ingredients of the concrete aremeasured into the required proportions, for example, by weight or byquantity, using the appropriate weighing or measuring equipment (notshown) and conveyed to mixer 2. The mixer 2 mixes and blends theingredients and water is added at this stage.

The mixer provides a preset measured amount of concrete mix equivalentto one concrete tile base to a delivery system such as a screw feed 5,which transports the mix to a mold 4 on a carousel table 3 which carriesmolds 4 through a sequence of stations where the stages of themanufacturing process are performed. The operation of the carousel table3 can be synchronized to the slowest operation in the process.

The molds are preferably steel plates with a cavity of the shape of thetile. To facilitate the removal of the assembled paver from the cavity,the cavity can be a through-hole. Usually the cavity will be square, butother shapes are within the scope of the invention.

The various elements of FIGS. 1 and 2 include:

-   2 tile base mixer-   3 carousel-   4 tile mold-   5 screw feeder-   6 agitator station-   7 press station-   8 mortar application station-   281 mortar hopper-   282 mortar feeder-   283 mortar spray-   284 mortar spillage shield-   9 cap delivery station-   291 robot arm-   292 tile caps-   293 glue spray-   294 gripping head-   10 unloading station

FIG. 3 illustrates details of a mould filling station. The mixer 2delivers a measured quantity of concrete mix to the mould chargingdevice which can be a screw conveyor or chute 5 which feeds the mix intothe mold 4. The mold 4 is mounted on the carousel table 3.

When the concrete base mix has been delivered to the tile cavity in mold4 and the compaction process has been completed, and all other stageshave been completed on the other molds on the carousel, the carousel 3indexes to the next stage which is agitator station 6. At agitatorstation 6, the concrete mix in the mould 4 is shaken and vibrated tospread the mix evenly and condense the mix within the cavity of themould.

Details of the agitation station 6 are shown in FIG. 4. The mold 4 ismounted on an agitation platen which is adapted to agitate the mix in atleast one direction. Preferably the agitation station produces agitationin 2 or 3 dimensions. This assists in distributing the mix in the moldcavity.

At the succeeding press station 7, FIG. 5, the concrete mix is pressedto further compress the mix and to form it into a stiff but uncuredsolid base. The press station 7 includes means for removing excesswater. In one embodiment, the water can be removed using a vacuum. Theuse of a vacuum enables control of the surface moisture of the interfaceto optimise the wetting of the dry adhesive. This can be done bycontrolling the vacuum level during the pressing phase.

FIG. 5 illustrates details of the pressing station. An hydraulic presshas a plate 52 adapted to fit closely within the mold cavity to compressthe concrete mix. Water which is squeezed from the mix is collected in agutter 517.

Optionally, the press can impress a keying pattern on the upper surfaceof the compressed concrete base, such as those shown in FIG. 10 or 11.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a concrete tile base 1002 after thepressing operation. An array of indentations 1004 are formed in theupper surface of the concrete base. The mortar powder is applied tocover the rims of the indentations. Mortar powder will also fall intothe indentations. Preferably the peripheral rims of the concrete base donot have mortar applied to them so that the mortar will not be forcedout from between the concrete base and the tile cap when the tile cap isapplied. The indentations permit the mortar to be displaced during thetile capping process described below with reference to FIG. 7.

An alternative tile base 1102 is shown in FIG. 11. In this base, theindentations are replaced by raised grid 1104 which functions in asimilar manner to the rims of the indentations 1004 of FIG. 10. Thewalls of the grid 1104 can be of the order of 1 mm wide. The mortarpowder applicator is designed so that little or no mortar powder isdeposited on the peripheral area 1106. This reduces the possibility ofthe mortar being squeezed out from between the concrete base and thetile cap.

When the pressing operation is complete, the carousel indexes to thenext station 8, which is a mortar application station. Mortar is fedfrom a hopper 281 containing a pre-blended mix of dry polymer mortar viaa feeder 282 which lays an even depth of mortar on the wet uncuredconcrete paver base. The feeder 282 can be a traversing vibratingfeeder. The deposited layer of mortar is wetted by a spray 283. A shield284 is provided to reduce spillage from the mortar application station.

FIG. 6 illustrates a mortar application station. A hopper 662 is mountedon a transport system shown illustratively as rails 663 and wheels 665.A vibrating feeder 668 receives mortar from the hopper 662 and deliversit evenly on top of the compressed concrete mix in the mold cavity ofmold 604 mounted on conveyor 603. A surface spray 668 prepares themortar for use in attaching a tile cap to the concrete tile base. Ashield 666 can be provided to reduce spillage.

On completion of the mortar application process, the carousel 3 indexesto a tile delivery station 9. The delivery station includes a robot arm291 adapted to transfer a tile cap from a stack of tile caps 292 andapply it to the pre-mortared concrete tile base after an adhesive, forexample, a PVA solution, has been applied to its underside by spray 293to aid adhesion between the tile cap and the mortar. The robot arm has ahead 294 which is adapted to grip each tile cap and lift it from thestack 292, transport it via the PVA wetting station 293 and embed thetile cap on the layer of mortar on the concrete paver base. Theassembled tile is then delivered to the tile unloading station 10, whereit can be placed on a conveyor for delivery to further processing suchas drying.

Details of the tile cap delivery process are illustrated in FIG. 7. Asupply of tile caps 742 is provided by conveyor 744. At Stage A, therobot arm 709 removes individual tile caps from the stack and, at StageB, conveys them through the PVA solution spray 793 and thence, at StageC, to the mold where the robot arm presses the tile cap into the mortaron the concrete base.

The robot arm has a gripper capable of picking up the vibrating head aswell as a tile independently, combined with a vacuum pad underneath thevibrating head to pick up a tile for placement on the substrate.

At tile capping station 772, the vibrating head settles the tile capinto the mortar to ensure sound contact between the tile cap and themortar. A lateral vibration combined with a compressive force serve toform a sound contact. While the vibrating head settles a tile on to thebase during a carousel-stationary period, the robot/gripper takes a drytile and places it over the sprays or dips it in a water tub and leavesit there. When vibrating has finished it collects the vibrating head anduses it to pick up the tile with the now-wet underside, placing both ontop of the mortar layer in the current mold.

After the tile cap has been applied to the concrete base, the carouselindexes to the unloading station 10, where the tile is pressed from theunderside of the mould plate onto a tray on a conveyor to transport thepaver for further processing. The paver can be transferred to adrying/curing rack (not shown) which can be transported to adrying/curing area by suitable means such as a conveyor or forklift.

FIG. 8 illustrates details of the unloading press. An hydraulic press810 pushes the paver out of the mold 804 onto a conveyor platen or tray880 so that it is available for further processing.

While the process has been described in relation to a carousel table,the process could also be implemented using a sequential line toimplement the process steps. For example, a shuttle press can be used toimplement the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a tile 900 made in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. The tile cap 902 is affixed to the concrete base 904along the plane of the join 906. The thickness 908 of the concrete base904 can be greater than the thickness 910 of the tile cap 902.

The tile 900 includes an upper layer 902, and a lower layer 904. Thelayers 902 and layer 904 interface along the planes of line 906. Theinterface can be a suitable adhesive or mortar.

The lower layer has a first thickness 908, and the upper layer has asecond thickness 910, which may be the same as or different from thethickness 908. Preferably the thickness of the upper layer is less thanthe thickness of the lower layer.

In FIG. 12, the upper tile layer is extruded through first extrusionhead 1202, and the base is extruded through second extrusion head 1204.The upper extrudate 1206 and the base extrudate 1208 are pressedtogether by a first pair of rollers 1222, 1224. An adhesive and/ormortar can be applied to the mating faces of the upper and base layersfrom adhesive vessel 1262 before they are pressed together.

Optionally a second pair of rollers 1210, 1212 can be used to apply akeying surface to the mating surface of the upper extrudate. Similarly athird pair of rollers 1214, 1216 can apply a keying surface orroughening to the mating surface of the base extrudate before they arepressed together by the first pair of rollers. The rollers 1214, 1216can also act as a de-watering press.

A surface texturing roller 1226 can be used to apply a pattern ortexture 1228 to the surface of the tile. This roller 1226 can be used inplace of roller 1222.

A flying cutter, such as described in Australian patent applicationAU2004906979 can be used to dissect the combined extrudate intoindividual tiles for downstream drying and processing in a mannersimilar to that disclosed in the above referenced Australian patentapplication.

FIG. 13 shows a production line adapted for assembling pre-made basesand caps to make a composite paver.

A supply of pre-made paver bases 1340 and a supply of pre-made caps 1342are fed to an assembly station via conveyors 1354, 1344 respectively.Robot arm 1343 having a gripping or vacuum head 1308 can be used totransfer the bases and caps to their conveyors. Alternatively, adedicated machine can be used to place the caps and bases on theirrespective conveyors. Alternatively, the caps and bases can be loadedmanually.

The base passes through adhesive station where a predetermined amount ofmortar or glue is applied to the mating face of the base from adhesivevessel 1362 and spread evenly by vibration, raking or other suitablespreading means. The adhesive station can include a squaring andlocating device 1353 to align the base for processing.

At wetting station 1348, the cap is placed on an array of pegs to enablethe underside to be wetted by a spray from underneath. The wetting agentcan be water or a mixture of water and PVA, or other suitable wettingagent. A collecting trough is provided to collect the excess wettingagent. Instead of a spray, the cap interface surface can be wetted bydipping into a bath of wetting agent. Precise alignment means, such assquaring and location device 1351 accurately aligns the cap forprecision placement on the tile base at combining station 1350 after thebase has also been accurately aligned by locating/squaring device 1352.The robot arm can provide the required amount of pressure and vibrationto ensure proper adhesion. The robot arm 1309 then places the assembledtile on the unloading conveyor 1356 or transferred for drying, curing,packaging, etc. Again, the transfer of the assembled tile to theunloading conveyor can be done manually or by a dedicated machine.

The Component Table below lists elements of the embodiments of theinvention.

TABLE 1 DRAWING CONCORDANCE FIGURES 1/2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ITEM 2302 tile base mixer 3 303 403 503 603 carousel 4 304 404 504 604 704 804tile mold 5 305 screw feeder 6 agitator station 7 press station 517gutter 8 mortar application station 281 mortar hopper 282 mortar feeder283 mortar spray 284 mortar spillage shield 9 cap delivery station 291robot arm 292 tile caps 293 793 glue spray 294 gripping head 10unloading station 11 662 mortar hopper 663 hopper rails 664 surfacespray 665 hopper wheels 666 shield 668 vibrating feeder 742 tile capsupply 772 tile capping station 810 hydraulic press 880 unloading platen900 assembled tile 902 cap 904 base 906 cap/base interface 908 basethickness 910 cap thickness 1000 pitted tile base 1002 toile base 1004pits 1100 profiled tile base 1102 tile base 1104 raised profile 1106tile interface surface 1202 cap extrusion head 1204 base extrusion head1206 upper extradate 1208 base extrudate 1210 support roller 1212 keyingroller 1214 keying roller 1216 support roller 1218 feed roller 1220 feedroller 1222 joining roller 1224 joining roller 1226 pattern roller 1228surface pattern 1262 adhesive application station 1309 robot grip head1340 base supply 1342 cap supply 1344 cap conveyor 1346 cap 1348 capwetting station 1350 cap/base combining station 1351/2/3locating/squaring register device 1354 base conveyor 1356 unloadingconveyor 1362 mortar vessel

Where ever it is used, the word “comprising” is to be understood in its“open” sense, that is, in the sense of “including”, and thus not limitedto its “closed” sense, that is the sense of “consisting only of”. Acorresponding meaning is to be attributed to the corresponding words“comprise”, “comprised” and “comprises” where they appear.

It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined hereinextends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individualfeatures mentioned or evident from the text. All of these differentcombinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.

While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, itwill be evident to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be embodied in other specific forms without departing from theessential characteristics thereof. The invention covers variouscombinations of the features and functions of the different embodimentswhich would be apparent to a person skilled in the art. The presentembodiments and examples are therefore to be considered in all respectsas illustrative and not restrictive, and all modifications which wouldbe obvious to those skilled in the art are therefore intended to beembraced therein.

1. A method of forming a laminated tile, including the steps of:providing a tile base of a first material having a first interfacesurface adapted to receive a tile cap; providing a tile cap having asecond interface surface and adapted to fit the tile base; applying afirst adhesive layer at least one of the first and second interfacesurfaces; joining the cap and the base by pressing the first and secondinterface surfaces together with the adhesive therebetween.
 2. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the base includes concrete.
 3. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the base is pre-formed.
 4. A method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the tile cap is preformed.
 5. A method asclaimed in claim 1, including the step of forming the tile cap in situ.6. A method as claimed in claim 1, including the step of applying thefirst adhesive to the first interface surface and applying a secondadhesive to the second interface surface.
 7. A method as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the first adhesive is mortar.
 8. A method as claimed inclaim 6 as appended to claim 6, wherein the second adhesive is resinousadhesive.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second adhesiveis PVA. 10 A method of forming a laminated tile, including the steps of:inserting a measured quantity of wetted concrete tile base mixture intoa tile mold; distributing the mix within the mold; compressing the mix;applying an adhesive; applying a tile cap.
 11. A method as claimed inclaim 10 including the step of compressing and de-watering the concretemix.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 10 including the step ofdistributing the concrete mix by vibration.
 13. A method as claimed inclaim 12, wherein the vibration is not done during tile cap application.14. A method as claimed in claim 1, including forming the tile base andthe tile cap as continuous extrusions and bonding them together.
 15. Amethod as claimed in claim 12, wherein a keying surface is applied tothe mating surface of one or both the tile cap extrudate and the tilebase before pressing them together.
 16. A multi-station tilemanufacturing equipment adapted to manufacture laminated tiles using oneor more tile molds, the equipment, the stations including: a moldfilling station at which a wetted concrete tile base mix is insertedinto a mould; a distribution station; a compression station to compressthe mix in the mold; a first adhesive application station adapted toapply a first adhesive layer to a mating surface of the concrete basemix; and a tile cap application station adapted to apply a tile cap tothe first adhesive layer. 17 Equipment as claimed in claim 16, includinga second adhesive application station adapted to apply a second adhesivelayer to a mating surface of the tile cap.
 18. Equipment as claimed inclaim 16, wherein the first adhesive is mortar.
 19. Equipment as claimedin claim 16, wherein the second adhesive is resinous adhesive 20.Equipment as claimed in claim 16, wherein the second adhesive is PVA.21. Equipment as claimed in claim 16, including a robot arm with agripper capable of picking up the vibrating head as well as a tile capindependently,
 22. Equipment as claimed in claim 20, wherein the gripperincludes a vacuum pad to pick up a tile cap for placement on thesubstrate.
 23. Equipment as claimed in claim 16, including one or moremolds adapted to receive a predetermined quantity of concrete tile basemix.
 24. A composite tile including a base layer of a first material anda top layer of a second material.
 25. A composite tile as claimed inclaim 24, wherein the first material includes concrete, and the secondmaterial includes clay.
 26. A composite tile as claimed in claim 24,wherein the first material includes concrete and the second materialincludes a ceramic material.
 26. A composite tile made by the method ofclaim
 1. 27. (canceled)
 28. (canceled)
 29. (canceled)